The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-05-20

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Of the light.
"what are you thinking Of, Bessier
asked.
She looked up, and be saw that her lip
were ,quivering . little. swell, do yol
know" she said, u was, oddly enough
thinking Of my mother can only just re
member her, woman with thin, swee
faoa remember one evening she was sittinl
In front Of house, Just as the sun was cot
ting IKE it Is now, and was playing by her
when suddenly. she called me to her ant
kissed me, and then pointed to the red cloud
that were gathered in the sky, and said: J
wonder II you will ever think OF me, dear
when have passed through those COLDER
gatesf did not understand what she meant
then, but somehow have remembered tn,
words, and though she died 20 long ago d.
often think Of her;" and two large tear,
rolled down her face a. she spoke
Few men can bear to see a sweet and pretty
woman in tears, and this little incident wa
too much for John, whose caution and doubts
all went to the winds together, and have moi
since been heard Of
"Bessie, lie said, "don't cry. dear; please
don't! can't bear to sec you cry"
She looked up as though to demonstrate al
his words, and then looked down again.
"Listen, Bessie" he went on, awkwardly
enough, ~ have got something to say to you.
want to ask you if-if, in short, you will
marry me. Wait a bit, don't say anything
yet; you know me pretty well by now. lam
no chicken, dear, and l have knocked about
the world good deal, and had one Or two
love affairs like other people But, Bessie,
never met such sweet woman, or, If you
will let me say 1t, such lovely woman as
you, and il you will have me, dear, think
that l shall be the luckiest man in South
Africa" and he stopped, not exactly know
ing what else to say, and the time had not
come for action, IL indeed it was to come at
all
When she first realized the drift OF his talk
Bessie had flushed up to the eyes, and then
the blood had sunk back to her breast and
left her as pale as a lily. She loved the man,
and they were happy words to her, and she
was satisfied with them, though perhaps some
women might have thought that they left a
good deal to be desired. But Bessie was not
of an exacting nature.
At last she spoke.
"Are you sure" she said, "that you mean
all thisi mean sometimes people say things
of a sudden, upon an impulse, and then after
ward they wish that they never had been
said. II that was SO it would be rather awk-
ward, suppssing I were to say yes you
know"
"Of course am sure" he said, indig-
nantly.
"You see." went on Bessie, poking at the
sod wall with the stick she had in her hand,
perhaps in this place you might be putting
an exaggerated value on me. You think am
pretty because you see nobody but Kaflr and
Boer women, and it would be the same with
everything. I'm not fit to marry a man like
you," she went on, with a sudden burst Of
distress; u have never seen anything or any
body. am nothing but an ignorant half
educated farmer girl, with nothing to recon-
mend me, and no fortune except my looks.
You are different to me; you are man of
the world. and If ever you went back to Eng
land I should be a drag on you, and you
would be ashamed Of me and my colonial
ways. II it had been Jess now, 1t would have
been different, for she has more brains in her
little finger than haven my whole body"
Somehow the mention Of Jess Jared upon
Johns nerves and chilled him like breath of
jess out of his mind just now.
my dsss sss's = PAX e3s ,nat
il you appeared In London dra Hns room
you would put most Of the womentin into
the shade Not that there b much chance of
my frequenting London drawing rooms
again" he added
"Oh, yes, 1 may be good looking! don't
say that am not; but can't you understand
I don't want you to marry me just because
am pretty woman, as the Kafirs marry
their wives II you marry me at all want
you to marry me because you care for me,
the real me-not my eyes and my hair. on,
I don't know what to answer you! don't,
indeed!" and she began to cry softly.
"Bessie, dear Bessie!" said John, who was
pretty we'll beside himself by this time, "just
tell me honestly-do you care about me? !
am not worth much, know, but if you do,
all this just goes for nothing" and he took
her hand and drew her toward him, SO that
she half slipped, half got off the sod wall and
stood face to face with him, for she was a tall
woman, and they were very nearly of a
height.
Twice she raised her beautiful eyes to his to
answer and twice her courage failed her, and
then at last the truth broke from her almost
with a cry:
"Oh, John, love you with allmy heart"
And now think that we may drop a veil
over the rest of these proceedings, for there
are some things that should be sacred, even
from the pen Of the historian, and the first
Of the love of q pure woman is one
of them.
Suffice it to say that they sat there side by
side on that sod wall. and were as happy as
people ought to be under such circumstances,
till the glory departed from the western sky
and the world grew cold and pale, till the
night came down and hid the mountains, and
only the stars and they were leftlto look out
across the dusky distances of the wilderness
of plain.
Meanwhile very different scene was being
enacted up at the house, half mile away
Not more than ten minutes after John and
his lady love had departed on that fateful
walk to look at the young trees, Frank Null
ler's stalwart form, mounted on his great
black horse, was to be seen leisurely advanc-
ing toward the blue gum avenue. Jamie was
lurking about between the stems OF the trees
in the peculiar fashion that is characteristic
of the Hottentot and which doubtless is bred
into him after tens of centuries of tracking
animals and hiding from foes. There he was,
from trunk to trunk and gazing
round him as though he expected each instant
To discover the assegai of an ambushed foe or